


if jaemin asks, say no

by eckso



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Canon Universe, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Friendship/Love, How Do I Tag This, Idiots in Love, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan-centric, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) is a Confident Gay, hyuck is confused is that canon, jaemin loves to mother thats definitely canon, jisung is in this once, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24128284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eckso/pseuds/eckso
Summary: If you asked Donghyuck if he loved Mark, like Jaemin does every two days (on average) because he actually enjoys fulfilling his position as Dream’s acting therapist despite how frequently he complains about it, he would say no. Jaemin seems to think he’s wrong.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 24
Kudos: 357





	if jaemin asks, say no

**Author's Note:**

> hello, 
> 
> dolbaekki commented on the last fic I posted, the first thing i’d ever uploaded, saying that they enjoyed it and wanted more and my love language is words of affirmation so HERE IS MORE I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR BEING NICE
> 
> seriously, anyone who read my last markhyuck fic and left a kudos, bookmarked it, or left a comment, i am so fucking grateful to every single one of you. i really, really enjoyed writing the fic but i’d never finished a whole work before and i was expecting NOTHING so to have people show their appreciation… mind blowing. you’ve made me really happy. so, in thanks, i give you this weird little fic that was born out of a tiktok i saw where everyone was commenting the moment they knew they were in love with their significant other.
> 
> i really hope you enjoy this.
> 
> jisung, if you're reading this, i promise i see you. for some reason i just never write you into fics, my apologies

If you asked Donghyuck if he loved Mark, like Jaemin does every two days (on average) because he actually enjoys fulfilling his position as Dream’s acting therapist despite how frequently he complains about it, he would say no. Jaemin seems to think he’s wrong.

It hasn’t even been 13 hours since the last time Jaemin asked, which Donghyuck remembers because since he noticed the average refractory period between ambushings he’d started making notes so he knew when to expect the next one, and Jaemin seems more dissatisfied with his answer than usual. 

The Dreamies are up on the 127 dorm floors for dinner, but Donghyuck is tired from a day of practice, having spent every second wishing he was back in his warm, soft sheets. He excuses himself as quickly as he can once they get back home, but has only just gotten comfortable in his bed when Jaemin is knocking and opening the door without waiting to be let in. 

Currently, Jaemin is pulling The Face at him, the one that makes Jisung whine and squirm instantly because it makes him look like he possesses all the knowledge in the world and knows exactly when, why and how the crumbs on his bed sheets appeared without even having to tickle the answer and the culprit (always Jisung) out of anyone, but it doesn’t work on Donghyuck. The only thing it works for is to remind him that he needs to shave his face before tomorrow’s schedules, when he pushes his lips up to his nose in an exaggerated pout in the direction of Jaemin’s almost visceral bubble of disappointment at the foot of his bed and feels the scratch of prickly hair. Jaemin doesn’t look appeased.

He crawls up the bed, pushing Donghyuck forcefully over so he’s no longer in the middle but rather on the left so he can drop his gangly body onto the right side and continue his tormenting at a closer vicinity. He tugs the sheets off of Donghyuck where he’s comfortably swathed in fabric and wraps himself up before he starts again. 

“Okay. Look. We must have had this conversation at least a billion times by now,” Donghyuck snorts in agreement and makes a feeble attempt to reclaim the bed covers, “and I’m not even really expecting this time to suddenly be the time that bangs some sense into your thick head,” Jaemin swats at his hands and Donghyuck is about to cut him off and ask why he still even bothers but then, “but I’m doing this for my own good now.” Donghyuck makes a noise of confusion, slapping Jaemin’s leg when it slinks up under the sheets to rest over both of Donghyuck’s own. Donghyuck wants to be comfy in his bed alone, not with Jaemin wrapped around him asking questions he’s already answered.

“As much as I love getting to say, ‘I told you so’, you’re exhausting me. Mark hyung starts SuperM promotions again soon. Last time they went to the US, you spent all your time watching fancams from his performances over there and complaining about how much you missed him. So, I’m kind of at a push to get the Markhyuck show on the road before suddenly he’s back in the US with his hyungs and we’re doing this whole song and dance again.” Donghyuck’s face drops from where his eyebrows were raised and he rolls his eyes. He crosses his arms over his chest in a defensive position, half because of Jaemin’s incessant probing and half because the chill of the room is starting to set in where he’s left without any blankets.

“I watch his fancams for no reason other than because he has a big head and needs me to monitor him and bring him down a peg. Also, I miss him because we’re friends. Good friends. I’d probably die for him if I needed to and he’d do the same.” He stops and Jaemin looks a bit hopeful. His grip loosens on the fabric he’s withholding from his victim and Donghyuck yanks it while he’s weak. “But. I’d probably die for your annoying ass too even though right now I wish you’d just leave me in peace.” 

Jaemin groans in anguish and raises a hand to thump Donghyuck on the back of the head. 

“Alright.” He says, standing from the bed. Donghyuck thinks he’s finally succeeded in getting him out of his hair for the time being and begins to wriggle around on the mattress to get cosy again when Jaemin clasps both hands on the sheet and yanks the whole thing off in one swift motion so it lands on the floor at his feet. Donghyuck blinks. “But I swear to God. If he leaves this dorm in a couple weeks and you say one single syllable about him,” he pauses for dramatic effect, “I’ll tell Doyoung hyung you’re bullying Jeno.” 

The threat is a good one. Donghyuck isn’t particularly scared of Doyoung on a normal day but he turns into some kind of rabid, threatened mother bird when Jeno is targeted at all. Last time Donghyuck had hid Jeno’s laptop in retaliation for Jeno beating him on PUBG, Doyoung had made him write a 1000-word, hand-written letter of apology. He doesn’t want to risk it. Not that he sees himself doing any of the mentioned things regarding Mark. 

“Fine. But, I’m not going to cry over him being gone. You were gone for two whole comebacks and I was hunky-dory. Sometimes, like right now if you need the subtext spelled out for you, I even reminisce fondly on those days.” Jaemin maintains eye contact while he wordlessly kicks Donghyuck’s bed covers across the floor so now he’ll have to actually get up to retrieve them rather than just leaning over to reach. Donghyuck huffs.

“Good.” Jaemin says sternly, walking towards the door. Once he gets there, he spins swiftly on his feet and his usual, big, toothy grin stretches his face and he giggles. “Love you, Hyuckie. You guys are going to be so cute.” 

He’s gone out the door before Donghyuck can even lift his hand to throw a pillow at him like he’d had the urge to. 

Sighing heavily, he gets off his mattress to grab his covers from Johnny’s side of the room and pull them back on top of him on the bed. 

He doesn’t love Mark, he thinks to himself once he’s safely tucked in. Jaemin is just stupid. 

☼ ¸⋆♡₊˚ ᵕ̈ ˚₊♡ ⋆¸☼

He wakes up in a snap to a knock on the door of his and Johnny’s room the next morning. He’s groggy, having been dead tired last night but kept awake by Johnny playing a game until early morning despite him having headphones on and trying genuinely to keep it down. Somehow, Johnny always seems to be up fresh as a daisy before even the crack of dawn no matter how late he stays up before work days. 

Donghyuck looks scornfully at Johnny’s neatly made bed, tucked at the edges sans Johnny as he practically falls out of his own, rubbing a hand through sleep-rumpled hair and stepping into his slippers to see who’s at the door. Taeyong smiles at him placatingly when he sees the state he’s in.

“Johnny hyung made coffee about an hour ago if you don’t mind it cold. And Jaehyunnie just ate the last apple so you’ll have to eat something else, unless you can wait to eat until we get to KBS? I know you like the snacks at MusicBank.” The words go in one of Donghyuck’s ears and right out the other. 

Taeyong must be able to tell he’s still half asleep because he doesn’t wait for a verbal response, just pats him on the top of the head and turns to keep walking down the hallway, probably towards Taeil’s room, who’s notoriously even harder to bring to cognizant consciousness than Donghyuck himself. 

Today is a stage day, which means they don’t have to dress themselves extravagantly or do anything cumbersome to their faces because anything they do manage to do will only be wiped off or removed as soon as they get to the broadcasting station. Thankfully, for a still closed-eyed Donghyuck as he walks into the bathroom, steered purely by muscle memory, he only has to shave before he’s ready to get going.

Because there’s so many of them in the dorms, 9 to be exact, divided between 2 floors with only 4 bathrooms between them, they’d had to set up a rotational system for the mornings to establish some order where everyone is concerned only with getting their 5 minutes in front of the mirror before getting shoved into the van and off to wherever they are for the day. Everyone had to pick a partner, which is why Donghyuck is expecting to knock into Mark as he moves around the bathroom while concurrently haphazardly shaving his face and trying to flatten his hair, only opening his eyes if desperately necessary but otherwise pretending he’s still in REM. He cracks one open after realising he can’t hear anyone brushing their teeth or the running water of the shower and realises he’s alone in the room. However, in the fog of the mirror, presumably there from Mark having had a hot shower not too long ago, there’s a note written in Mark’s neat Korean with the pad of his finger. 

‘Good morning, Hyuck-ah. Late again.’ Donghyuck reads, the corners of his mouth lifting at the cute little smiley face Mark has doodled at the end of his message. 

He often comes into the bathroom after waking up late to little messages like this written on the mirror. He and Mark never talk about them though. And Donghyuck always wipes them away with his towel before he leaves the room, not wanting anyone else to see them. Because the hyungs would make fun of them. Not for any other reason.

He smiles at the hangul for a little longer before taking his towel to it and scrutinising himself in the now-clear mirror. 

Teeth. He needs to brush his teeth. 

He looks down at the counter top, eyes skimming over bottles of skin care and single-use face masks to look for his toothbrush. It’s bright green and new, him and Mark having gone halves on a pack of 2 a couple of weeks ago when they’d realised they’d both been using each other’s for God knows how long prior. 

(Mark had thrown his out months ago and had never bothered to buy a new one off of his own merit, resorting instead to using Donghyuck’s when he wasn’t looking. Thinking about it now still makes Donghyuck’s skin prickle just a little. Gross.)

Donghyuck furrows his brows, not seeing his toothbrush anywhere near where it would usually be, where he could swear he put it back last night before he’d gone back to his room. 

It’s only when he steps back from the sink, aiming to look at the area from a different vantage point in hopes his elusive toothbrush will finally reveal itself, that he sees it, sitting on the rim of the sink with toothpaste already applied. He sighs in relief, not keen on the idea of having to leave with morning breath, and picks it up to run it under the faucet and start on brushing. 

Mark must have done his toothpaste for him, having known he was going to be rushing if he’d woken up after they were meant to use the bathroom together. Considerate. He gets a weird feeling in his stomach and assumes it must be because he’d skipped dinner the night before.

Donghyuck rinses his mouth and tells himself to remember to tell Mark not to move his toothbrush. 

☼ ¸⋆♡₊˚ ᵕ̈ ˚₊♡ ⋆¸☼

A week or so after that, Donghyuck wakes up late before a schedule again, this time because he’d spent too long in the practice room with Dream the night before to get any more than what felt like a wink of sleep before Taeyong was knocking on the door and offering him a banana. 

They’re going to MBC today, filming an episode of Weekly Idol to promote their new comeback, but this means Donghyuck has to clothe himself in at least some semblance of a cohesive outfit or risk the ridicule of his hyungs and probably the general public. To him, in the state of mind he’s usually in when getting ready for these things at ridiculous hours of the morning, this is a gargantuan task. But, this time, he’s reached a certain level of genius. Before going to bed the night before, Donghyuck had meticulously picked out an outfit, shoes, accessories and all. 

He dresses leisurely, smug to use his saved time by not working himself into a tizzy, and walks into the bathroom trying not to show too clearly on his face that he’s feeling incredibly proud of himself. 

Mark pulls a comically shocked face at him in the mirror when Donghyuck stops next to him in front of the sink.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Sleeping Beauty?” He asks with raised eyebrows, his amused smile and tone obstructed by the mouthful of toothpaste he speaks around. 

Donghyuck aims an elbow into his stomach. The minty foam reminds Donghyuck of something.

“Shut up. By the way, did I already tell you not to move my toothbrush or did I just think to tell you?” Donghyuck asks as he reaches for said toothbrush and Mark hums before spitting in the sink. He dips his head under the running faucet, catching water in his mouth to swill for a few seconds before looking back at Donghyuck in the mirror and responding.

“You must have just thought it. But, noted. I thought I was being nice though.” He says, leaning over Donghyuck to put his own toothbrush back in its holder and turning to dry his hands on the towel rack behind them before facing the other again.

Donghyuck puts toothpaste on his brush.

“It was nice. But I thought you’d stolen it again and that almost made me vomit on the tiles before I’d even had my breakfast. Save me the panic next time.” He says, his tone reprimanding even though he’s joking.

“Right. Is the idea of having my mouth germs all up in yours that revolting? You’ve gotten so close to planting one right on my mouth with your constant kissing, I didn’t think you’d be bothered.” Mark replies teasingly, watching and laughing at the face Donghyuck makes with his teeth bared as he moves his toothbrush around his mouth and his nose wrinkled in disgust.

He spits the foam in the sink before it starts to drip down his chin. 

“I do that to bother you. I want no business with your tooth plaque, thank you. Please keep it on your side of the bathroom.” Donghyuck says matter-of-factly, drawing a straight line between them across the floor with a pointed toe. Mark laughs and Donghyuck goes back to brushing.

Donghyuck’s eyes follow Mark in the mirror as he steps right over the imaginary line Donghyuck has just drawn to grab at Donghyuck’s elbow and turn him to face the other. Mark reaches out a thumb and drags it along Donghyuck’s lower lip, catching a glob of toothpaste about to run down his face and probably onto his shirt. Donghyuck ends up swallowing his mouthful of toothpaste in a compulsive gulp. 

“Got it. No more doing nice things for you.” Mark says, sticking his hand under the still-running water to wash the toothpaste off then dries it on his jeans. He smiles at Donghyuck, his usual smiley-eyed smile, before leaving the bathroom. 

Donghyuck turns back to the mirror wide-eyed, stomach weird and fluttery. He must be overtired, he reasons. 

Despite having gotten ready quickly and early by his standards, he’s still being hassled out the door with his shoes in his hands rather than on his feet by Doyoung and Taeyong by the time they’re ready to go. He’s unperturbed though because, as he’s been very organised this morning, there is no way he could be anything put the epitome of ‘put together.’ 

He leans back on the headrest of his seat in the van as the engine starts and they pull out of the dorm parking garage. He has turned over a new leaf. His bare toes wriggle in the carpet of the footwell. He is a morning person now. He is quick and admirable. He is pure genius. He grabs his shoes from the empty seat next to him and goes to start loosening the laces. He then looks between his shoes and his bare feet. He has forgotten his fucking socks. 

His head falls back onto the headrest with an anguished groan as he looks between his stupid toes and his stupid shoes, debating between the two unfortunate fates of either going barefoot on national television or, with his luck, practically asking for a set of the most painful blisters he’s likely to ever experience. He groans again.

“Does anyone happen to have a pair of socks? Please? Please say you do. Please.” He’s not above begging. He has too much dancing to do these next couple of weeks to deal with any blisters and while he doesn’t mind being the centre of attention on variety shows, he’d rather it be because of his humour than having his toes out. 

There’s a chorus of ‘no’s’ in response to him but then someone makes a sound of amused interest from the row behind him. Donghyuck already knows who it was before he turns.

Mark carries a backpack to every schedule and, based on Mark’s general affinity for hoarding usually useless things and the amount of times Donghyuck has witnessed odd objects when rummaging around in Mark’s bag for water or something, he’s not surprised when Mark digs around in there for a second then procures a neat pair of white ankle socks. 

Donghyuck practically deflates in relief. 

Mark reaches forward to hand Donghyuck the rolled-up socks before pulling his hand back just as Donghyuck is about to get his fingers around them.

“I thought you said no more nice things?” Mark says, his face too polite for a smirk. 

Donghyuck’s face drops to one of discontentment before it switches quickly, cheeks pushed up as he smushes his hands against them and whines in his best baby voice.

“Pwease, Markie hyung.” Mark’s cheeks go pink as he laughs and Donghyuck reaches for the socks to snatch them while his defences are down. His face drops back into neutrality as he turns back in his seat to put them on. Mark flicks the back of his head.

“I have a shoe horn you can use too, if you need it.” He says, still laughing and Donghyuck snorts sarcastically.

“Shove it up your ass.” He says.

“Don’t be mean to Mark.” Yuta calls from the front row of the van, where he shouldn’t be able to hear their conversation. But alas, he has granted Mark ‘favourite dongsaeng’ privileges, of which include superhuman hearing used to fend off shit talking. 

“Sorry.” He says to Yuta. “Shove it up your ass, hyung.” He says to Mark. Mark laughs and ruffles Donghyuck’s hair affectionately. Donghyuck grumbles.

☼ ¸⋆♡₊˚ ᵕ̈ ˚₊♡ ⋆¸☼

Mark comes to visit Dream when they’re practicing a couple of days later. 

He watches them through the glass door of the training room as they finish a run through of the new comeback title track before he knocks out of politeness and lets himself in, immediately stopping to handle two armfuls of Jeno in a massive hug, sweaty and breathing heavy. 

Donghyuck hangs back a bit, letting the rest of Dream greet and coddle Mark (he’d say he did it because he knew the Dreamies missed Mark and since he still lived with him and saw him on the daily, he thought it nicer to not interfere, but really it’s because he’d already sat down on one of the admittedly uncomfortable training room couches and wasn’t interested in getting up at all until he was forced.) 

He’s replying to a message Johnny has sent on KakaoTalk about buying a new desk for their room when a weight falls heavily on the couch next to him, making him bounce a little with the force. 

“I really do miss Dream but your choreographies are definitely getting harder. That last chorus looks brutal.” Mark says, leaning over Donghyuck’s shoulder to read his and Johnny’s messages because he’s nosy. Donghyuck presses the power button on his phone and turns his head to face Mark.

“It’s no harder than any of the others. You’re just old and frail.” Donghyuck ignores the resolute ache in his shins and thighs from the countless run-throughs of the new song. Mark laughs.

“Alright, that’s fine then. As long as you’re fit and healthy. We wouldn’t want you getting injured again, would we?” Mark replies, his tone teasing but Donghyuck can hear the sincerity in his voice. Donghyuck had just happened to be watching Mark’s face in the mirror when he fell wrong and broke his shin, seeing his face contort in grim shock as the resounding crack carried through the room. Donghyuck doesn’t like thinking about it. He likes making jokes.

“Aw, hyungie. You care about me?” He says, whiny and loud, hooking an arm around Mark’s elbow to pull his own face into his neck and nuzzle there for a fraction of a second before Mark writhes out of the way. Donghyuck sustains a flick to the forehead for his efforts.

“Of course, I care about you, idiot.” Mark says seriously, once he’s settled again. Donghyuck thinks he’s going to elaborate, expand on the declaration but then they both go silent.

“Okay.” Donghyuck says, strangely complemented by the words. Of course, abstractly, he knows that Mark cares about him. They’re best friends. And they all care about each other. But it’s still nice to hear. His chest feels kind of tight but he reasons he’s just winded from a day of exertion.

He looks over at Mark, where he’s reclined on the couch with an easy smile on his face, watching Renjun make starfish with moving limbs in the middle of the polished wooden floor as Jisung gets chased around the room by both Jeno and Jaemin, and really would like to kiss him.

From past research he has conducted, he has discovered there is a strong positive correlation between his levels of tiredness and his desire to kiss Mark. This means that when he is very tired, he very much wants to lay a fat one right on the soft skin of Mark’s cheek (Or wherever, actually. He isn’t picky) and not be squirmed away from. Currently, he’s enjoying his first opportunity to sit down properly in at least 2 hours and can feel that if he sits in a position comfortable enough on this rock-hard couch, he will fall right asleep. Therefore, he allows himself to entertain the itch to kiss.

The flipside of this theory should present that when he is not tired, he no longer feels the urge to fulfil this desire. He likes the sound of this. It makes him sound like he doesn’t actually want to kiss Mark, he’s just jelly-limbed and delusional and would probably kiss Lee Sooman right on the mouth if presented with the chance. However, when he came back from weeks at home after his leg injury, fully recharged and ready to be exhausted again, he found that he still really wanted to give Mark a smooch the second he saw him. So maybe the conclusion to be drawn is that he just likes kissing Mark.

It’s quite an easy pill to swallow, Donghyuck is surprised to find. Mark is good looking. He knows this. He knows this the same way that he knows Jisung is too scared of things and that Jungwoo is too hard on himself and that he himself could use a back massage. They’re facts. Cold, hard facts. 

He doesn’t really anticipate still finding Mark good looking right this second when he’s wearing an old, unflattering tracksuit, has a pimple right in the middle of his chin and hair that looks like it hasn’t been washed in a while. But he sweeps it under the rug. He’s tired. He trusts Mark. Mark is comfortable. Maybe he wants to kiss him. But he doesn’t love him.

☼ ¸⋆♡₊˚ ᵕ̈ ˚₊♡ ⋆¸☼

It feels like it’s been about 4 and a half seconds since the last time Donghyuck was in the studio recording for the last 127 comeback. But here he is, at almost midnight, standing in SM’s Yellow Tail Studio, about to go in to record what will hopefully be his last couple takes for the new repackaged album.

His next few weeks are busy. He’s just finished all the preparation for the new Dream comeback, with everything filmed and ready to go, promotion set to start just as the new 127 album they’re about to finish is announced, and everything feels a bit nonstop. Now being the only member still in both 127 and Dream, he’s afforded a lot less generosity than Mark and him had been when it was the two of them both stretched thin between commitments. There’s no reason to move the Dream comeback forwards or to push the 127 one back because it’s only him who has to handle double the stress. Or at least he feels like that. Maybe the weight just feels heavier because he doesn’t have Mark by his side to shoulder it with him anymore. 

He’s quick in the booth, having been spending any second he could spare rehearsing these new songs to show everyone that he wasn’t burning out under the pressure, as much as he likes the idea of taking a second to cool down. 

“Is there anyone after me?” He asks the sound engineer as they check over his recordings and make sure he’s good to go. 

The engineer nods where he’s facing his laptop. “Yeah, Mark. We need some doubling for his last verse on the title track.” 

Donghyuck hums. “Okay. I’ll grab him if he’s outside and let him know you’re ready for him.” 

He gets worried that Mark has double-booked himself or just plain forgotten he’s meant to be recording when he walks out into the common area of the studio floor and can’t see a sign of him. That is until he stops and hears the quiet inhales and exhales of breath coming from the couch facing away from where he’s standing. 

If idol life has taught any of them anything, it’s how to fall asleep anywhere. In the back of the van amongst the often-loud conversations of 8 other people and their managers, in the waiting rooms of music shows where no chair is ever comfortable and even sometimes standing upright when he misjudges whether he can make it through a shower after a long day without nodding off. 

This ingrained talent is made evident where Mark is curled knees to chest on the couch, squished into a ball far too compact to be very comfortable but evidently manageable enough to send him right off to sleep. 

Donghyuck’s first, instantaneous thought is that he needs to find a blanket for him. A big, fuzzy one that he can swaddle Mark in like a baby with a kiss to his forehead and keep him soundly asleep until he’s ready to wake up. 

His brain throws up a big, bolded, dancing question mark. 

Weird. Weird thought to be having. He furrows his eyebrows and Mark snuffles in his sleep.

Separately, each component of the thought is reasonable. Donghyuck wants Mark to be comfortable with a blanket because he cares about him. He wants him to sleep well for the same reason. These thoughts aren’t new. Sometimes Donghyuck sees Mark rubbing sleep out of his eyes in the mornings and gets an inexplicable urge to curl up in his lap like a cat and never move. But Mark cares about him too. Maybe not enough to, like, metamorph or anything drastic like that but enough to get Donghyuck a blanket while he’s sleeping, surely. He’s said it with his own little mouth that Donghyuck realises with rising stress is currently sat in a cute sleep pout. Donghyuck has to look up at the ceiling to centre himself. He continues. 

He knows he wants to kiss Mark, not just when he’s tired, but when Mark’s tired and when they’re both wide awake. All the time. That part is a little different, a little sharper and kind of harder to digest but still not new. 

But put together, it feels… intimate. It feels doting. His brain makes a noise like tires skidding on asphalt. It feels like love.

Fuck.

Donghyuck smacks Mark on the head in a feat of pure panic to wake him. Mark whines and blinks his eyes open, looking a soft kind of tired-vulnerable. Just looking at Mark makes him feel odd. He spits something with which he aims to convey that Mark can go into the studio to record now and moves so fast to leave he practically phases out the door, not waiting for a response. 

☼ ¸⋆♡₊˚ ᵕ̈ ˚₊♡ ⋆¸☼

“Jaemin?” He says hesitantly, knocking on the door to Jaemin and Jisung’s room. 

At the way Jaemin’s eyes instantly light up when he sights his expression, Donghyuck wonders why he was fretting so much on the walk over about having to admit to Jaemin’s face that he was right. He’d forgotten Jaemin is a fucking mind reader.

“God, I knew it! I don’t want to hear it. Go and tell him.” Jaemin says, far too excited for past one o’clock in the morning while Donghyuck is having what might be a break down. Jaemin must realise that Donghyuck is not quite as happy about his realisation as Jaemin is when Donghyuck’s face doesn’t change. “Oh no. Why am I not getting good vibes from you right now?”

“Um.” Donghyuck says, voice wavering, and Jaemin leaps up from his bed to get to Donghyuck, ushering him to sit down on Jaemin’s mattress and get under the covers with him. 

“Speak to me, Hyuck. What is it?” Donghyuck lets Jaemin cuddle him this time, but only because he thinks he might be in a state of shock.

“Well, you were right, I think.” Jaemin makes a quiet sound of triumph and Donghyuck looks at him sharply, Jaemin’s face then smoothing into a placating smile. Donghyuck looks back at his nervously clasped hands. “But I’m terrified?”

Jaemin’s face scrunches.

“Why?” He sounds genuinely confused. 

“Because you were right.” Donghyuck says, like it’s obvious, which he feels like it is. He’s just realised he’s in love with his best friend. If there’s any good time to be scared out of his mind, he’s sure right now qualifies. 

Jaemin makes a noise of shallow understanding. “Yes, I usually am. I know you hate that.” 

Donghyuck closes his eyes. 

“You aren’t helping.” He says and Jaemin sighs.

“You need to speak to him.” Jaemin says. 

☼ ¸⋆♡₊˚ ᵕ̈ ˚₊♡ ⋆¸☼

Donghyuck waits until he hears the front door of the dorm open and close, footsteps, then Mark’s door open and close before he leaves his room and slinks up the hallway in the dark. He waits a few seconds in front of Mark’s door before knocking. It only takes Mark a second to answer, just pulling his head through a sleep shirt and pulling it down his body as he motions for Donghyuck to come in. Mark sits down on his bed and Donghyuck hovers awkwardly by the door.

“Mark-.” Donghyuck starts.

“You really hurt my head when you smacked me. Would a nice, soft tap not have sufficed?” Mark cuts him off with, cheeks lifting in a smile when he sees Donghyuck get disgruntled by being stopped.

“Mark-.” Donghyuck tries again, a different tone this time, less confrontational and more resigned.

“I wasn’t even fully asleep, I think if you’d have just breathed too loud, you would have done the job.” 

Mark is smirking. Donghyuck is irritated.

“Mark. I am in love with you.” He kind of shouts it. Not very romantic but Mark is greatly annoying him right now. He’s about to apologise, maybe repeat it in a kinder tone when Mark replies. 

“Well, it’s about time you said it.” He doesn’t look surprised at all. He’s laughing, actually.

Donghyuck’s head tilts and his jaw hangs open. 

“You knew!?” He’s shouting again. Mark laughs harder.

“Donghyuck.” Mark is looking at him with mirth in his eyes and Donghyuck is teetering on the edge of being offended. 

“Oh my god.” He says, exasperated. “Do you know how stressed I was when I realised I wanted to kiss and cuddle you at the same time?” He looks at Mark, who raises one eyebrow with a smile. “Very stressed, Mark.” 

“I could arrange some kissing and cuddling for you right now, if you’d be interested?” Mark says, looking between the spot next to him on his bed to Donghyuck in the doorway. Donghyuck’s shoulders sag. He can’t be bothered to be angry at Mark for this. Besides, Mark’s always been the one he went to for comfort. It just so happens he’s turned out to be the thing that had him all knotted up to begin with.

He’s already making a beeline for Mark before he’s replied. 

“I’d really like that.” He says, following Mark as he scoots back on the bed, patting his chest with a welcoming smile and Donghyuck crawls over to him to rest his head on him, feeling Mark lean down and press a kiss to the crown of his head. 

He tilts his head up, only able to reach the base of Mark’s neck with his lips which isn’t exactly what he wants but he’ll settle for the time being, and presses a kiss there. Mark hums in contentment. Donghyuck moves his head back to where it was.

“Doesn’t feel as good when I know you’re enjoying the kisses rather than hating every moment.” He says flippantly, running one of his hands up and down Mark’s rib cage slowly. 

“Interesting, because I’ve always enjoyed them. You’re just fun to rile up.” Mark replies, reaching down with the hand that isn’t resting in the small of Donghyuck’s back to thread their fingers together. 

Donghyuck thinks on that for a second.

“Okay. That’s okay, then.” He says. He means it. 

☼ ¸⋆♡₊˚ ᵕ̈ ˚₊♡ ⋆¸☼

Nothing much changes after that. Donghyuck still resolutely denies Mark using his toothbrush even when Mark reasons it could be considered ‘relationship building’ because it is gross, he still gets his messages on the mirror except now they always end with Mark telling Donghyuck he loves him, Mark still dodges his kisses just to make Donghyuck pout, and Donghyuck still wants to kiss and cuddle Mark all the time. Except now he gets to. 

Donghyuck was wrong, he does love Mark. But don’t tell Jaemin.

**Author's Note:**

> hello again,
> 
> thank you for reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
> 
> i really appreciate it, i hope you're safe and are having/have had a great day.
> 
> i love u.


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